After the announcement of Final Fantasy XIII, we have had numerous scans,
images, screenshots and videos and from these we have seen mind-blowing
graphics and an amazing new Battle System and a small insight to what
a Final Fantasy game might be capable of as a title for the upcoming PS3.
And so here's a quick introduction to what the new Battle System might
be like.

So far we have only seen one character for Final Fantasy XIII, and that
is our un-named female protagonist, the main lead of FFXIII.
Many new possibilities have been opened up for Battle Systems, but not
enough information has been revealed to cover every aspect, for example,
only the female lead has been seen in battle, where are the other party
members? However, according to FFXIII Director Motomu Toriyama, there
will indeed be more party members, none of which have been revealed, that
will create huge interlocking battles of immense action with chain attacks
between all members, similar to the Bahamut battle in FFVII Advent Children.

This is what has been interpreted so far...

Battle System Overview

The Battle System of FFXIII looks phenomenal, the graphics
are amazing, the attacks are unique and the system itself appears to be
a fresh new leap in the Final Fantasy Series.
Transition between the game-play and battle is smooth and flawless, and
the graphics make full use of the PS3's capabilities, pushing quality
to the limit.
This time, enemies can be seen on screen before engaging in battle, (no
more random encounters) much like the system of Final Fantasy XII and
Final Fantasy XI the online multiplayer. This allows you to risk battle
or sneak quietly past, unnoticed.
Then actually during battle, movement is completely free and unlimited,
much emphasis has been put across that the camera's movement is completely
unrestricted, giving you 360° of smooth battle action and letting
you move around the battle field of your own accord. Simply attacking
the enemy has been seriously re-thought, you can now attack enemies from
all angles, amass chain attacks for more EXP, and a new feature has been
introduced; the ability to attack several enemies surrounding you at once
with an "Area of Effect" manoeuvre.
Already the Battle System is bringing much more freedom, movement, action
and strategy to every battle, but there's still more!
You may select several attacks at once, which will possibly be displayed
to the right of the Command Menu, and our protagonist will perform each
attack, but not just in any old fashion! Each attack will be perfectly
strung together to present one huge attack that promises to be very graphically-pleasing.
Also expect a variety of new attacks from sword slashes and vertical flip
kicks, to using the forces of time and gravity to destroy your enemies.
During battle, our heroine wields a large weapon, (nicknamed a "gunblade")
that can transform from a sword, to a gun and vice-versa, allowing you
to choice between a 'slicing and dicing' or 'shoot 'em up' mid-battle!
Depending on the battle situation, you can exploit the enemies weaknesses
in one smooth transition!

Like any other Battle System, there will be similar features returning,
along with some new elements.(1) There's a map that displays a large blue circle for your current
position and small red circles for the location of your enemies, a large
red circle signifies the enemy you are currently attacking, however because
of completely free camera movement, this will work as less of a map and
more of an idicator of the distance between you and your enemies;(2) There's a scrolling menu to select your actions;(3) This is the herione, i.e. your character;(4) And this is your enemy, i.e. the bad guy;(5) This is damage information, the writing tells you whether your
attack did Critical or Normal damage, (there could be a 'Miss' aspect
too) and the numbers indicate just how much damage was done to the enemy's
Hit Points;(6) This appears to be another menu with attacks displayed on it,
but on closer examination, you can see the words 'Information' above it,
so it's likely that this displays what attack your character is performing,(middle
bar marked in orange) what they did last, (right bars marked in blue)
and possibly what they will perform next after you have selected it (left
bars) but this is uncertain, but we do know that your character will then
perform each attack in one smooth piece of beautiful graphic action, involving
attacks such as "V Strike, Aerial, Shoot and Lure";(7) At the bottom you can see the writing, "Lightning",
(many think this is our Heroine's name) a bar partially filled with blue,
"ATB Cost", (Active Time Battle Cost) and HP. The 1/4 filled
bar appears to be your ATB, (Active Time Battle) bar, which so far looks
to be a form of Magic Points, i.e. you use "Lightning" magic
and it uses some of your ATB, (Active Time Battle) points. And your HP
is simply that, your Hit Points, although it doesn't seem to be very clearly
marked, which may be a problem if your HP runs low;(8) At this point you can see more enemies for you to eliminate;(9) This symbol indicates your "Overclock", which is
basically like a Limit or Overdrive of previous Final Fantasy's. When
"Overclock" is engaged your character snaps small metallic balls
in her fingertips and time virtually stops. All enemies around you will
move in ultra-slow-motion while your character maintains normal speed,
resulting in a huge opportunity to completely eliminate your motionless
enemies. Of course the effects of "Overclock" will not be permanent,
as the gauge inside the symbol will slowly deplete, given you only a limited
amount of time to cause as much damage as possible.

Well, that's pretty much all that can be interpreted from scans and videos
so far, but check back soon for more Final Fantasy XIII information!